Masi: Italy produced their best form at the RBS 6 Nations

Andrea Masi claims Italy saved some of their best-ever performances for the 2013 RBS 6 Nations and is aiming to build on the momentum ahead of the 2015 World Cup.

The Azzurri earned wins over France and Ireland and pushed England all the way at Twickenham in their most successful Championship to date since joining in 2000.

Full-back Masi was particularly impressive, earning a nomination for Player of the Tournament - eventually won by Wales' Leigh Halfpenny.

But the 31-year-old believes it's the team that showed its true colours at the RBS 6 Nations, and is predicting a bright future.

"Being nominated for that award is nice but I don't feel I deserve to be in that category. There are so many players in Wales who deserve that much more than me," he said.

"We finished the tournament well with the win over Ireland and overall I think we played our best rugby ever at times in the Six Nations and that's important as we are now really building something for the next World Cup.

"The game against England was disappointing that we didn't win it and we needed a bit more belief but we were very competitive against one of the best sides in the world which we need to take positives from."